Text / Xu Yifan
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The Platinum Jubilee event, held to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne, ushered in the final day on June 5, local time, and it was also a day of highlight.
The most grand celebration parade (Platinum Jubilee Pageant) takes place on this day, combining street art, theatre, music, carnivals and other activities to celebrate the dedication of the Queen during her reign.
The British look forward to seeing the Queen on buckingham Palace's balcony after the celebration parade as a happy finish to this wonderful holiday. They were not disappointed in the end – Elizabeth II led Prince Charles and his family to the balcony. The crowd gathered outside Buckingham Palace, cheering and singing "The Queen Of God Bless" with the members of the royal family.
On the last day of the celebration, the Queen once again appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to wave
Elizabeth II issued a statement of thanks, expressing "deep humility and deep emotion" for the support. She was encouraged by the kindness, joy and affection shown during the celebrations and hoped that this new sense of solidarity would "continue to manifest for many years to come." She echoed the promise she made when she ascended the throne, saying she would continue to take on her duties as British monarch with the support of her family.
Although London adhered to its bad weather "tradition" that day, the sky was very gloomy, but it did not affect people's interest. Many people put on their raincoats early and gathered near Buckingham Palace to wait for the afternoon cruise. The golden carriage in which Elizabeth II was crowned also reappeared, only this time the British monarch did not sit on it, and the windows of the carriage showed the scene of the Queen's coronation in 1953.
At the celebration on June 5, a hologram of the Queen Elizabeth II was projected on the golden carriage of the Queen herself
During the celebrations, more than 85,000 lunch parties were held across the UK, with millions of Britons taking part in luncheons on the streets or having picnics and barbecues. Outside Windsor Castle, where the Queen lived, there were 488 tables forming a 2.6-mile-long "long table" where people enjoyed a feast together. Members of the royal family were also present, with Princess Kate making cupcakes with her three children and bringing them to the street celebrations in Cardiff, Wales.
Long tables were set up outside Windsor Castle for luncheon
The Queen appeared on the balcony three times
As the protagonist of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the 96-year-old Elizabeth II did not make frequent appearances during the four-day national carnival.
Military parade on the first day of the festival (Photo: Kiki)
With limited mobility, Elizabeth II has been extremely rare this year to be absent from various public events. During the celebration, she did not participate in the parade herself, but let Crown Prince Charles and Princess Anne do the work; Similarly, she did not attend the thanksgiving ceremony on the second day, and as a horse racing enthusiast, she did not even attend the third day of the celebration.
But on the first day of the celebration, Elizabeth II still appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace as is customary – she wore a light blue hat and a coat of the same color, looking in good spirits. On the balcony, she received an army salute from the parade. After the parade, members of the royal family watched the air show, she reappeared and chatted with William's youngest son, Prince Louis.
On the first day of the celebration, the Queen appeared on the balcony twice
The 4-year-old Prince Louis grabbed the camera with his strength
That evening, Elizabeth II insisted on hosting a lighting ceremony at Windsor Castle, a customary jubilee celebration. She wears a green coat and a platinum jubilee brooch – made up of flowers and bell orchids that symbolize the four parts of The United Kingdom, which are the hand-held flowers of the Queen's coronation.
The Queen lights up in the courtyard of Windsor Castle
In the courtyard of Windsor Castle, Elizabeth II pressed a spherical button symbolizing the Commonwealth, while lights lit up at 3,500 locations in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries.
Sheryl, Julie and Mandy are three sisters from Wales who meet the Queen and other members of the royal family at the crowded Buckingham Palace.
Three Shirley sisters from Wales (Photo: Kiki)
The three sisters told the Global Newspaper Sisters that they arrived in London on June 1 and had surveyed the terrain early to prepare for the best viewing position on the first day of the celebration. At 8:30 a.m. the next morning, they arrived at the scene. It is said that many people set up tents around Buckingham Palace a day or two in advance.
The road to Buckingham Palace is packed with people (Photo: Kiki)
Shirley's previous work was related to the Royal Mint, where she used to attend royal celebrations, such as the 2016 Queen's ninetieth birthday open-air luncheon. The three sisters also attended Princess Diana's funeral and Prince William's wedding, and the family was familiar with the area around Buckingham Palace.
Despite their travels from Wales, the three sisters were no less enthusiastic about Elizabeth II than the English. They were full of affection for the Queen, describing it as "a solid pillar, calm and dignified, allowing the whole country to unite". The praise was not only directed at the Queen, but in their opinion, the other members of the royal family were also very grounded, good at listening to the will of the people, and not elitist.
The Prince of Wales and Camilla at a concert at Buckingham Palace
Their trip these days is full. After observing the parade on the morning of June 2, the three sisters returned to the evening to watch the "Tree of Life" lighting ceremony, and on June 3, they went to St. Paul's Cathedral to visit the thanksgiving ceremony, and on June 5, they returned to their hometown to participate in local celebrations.
At the thanksgiving ceremony on June 3, although Elizabeth II did not appear, members of the royal family and many dignitaries gathered here. Harry and Meghan also appeared at the ceremony, their first public event since they left the royal family. However, according to British media, Harry and his brother William are far apart, and the two did not say hello or talk. In addition, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and five other former prime ministers attended the thanksgiving ceremony.
Harry and Meghan made their debuts at public royal events after retiring from public office
For loyal royal fans like Shirley, events like Jubilee Celebrations are always exciting. As a participant in the military parade, the sense of participation in witnessing the major moments is even stronger.
On the first day of the celebration, Dave, a Northern Irishman who was on hand to sell the celebration schedule, was a member of the British Army's Irish Guard and had been in the army for 10 years. Just at the end of May, Dave also participated in the parade rehearsal.
Dave participated in the parade rehearsal at the end of May, and he is also participating in the Jubilee celebration for the first time (Photo: Kiki)
Dave told Global News that this is his first time attending the Queen's Jubilee celebrations and that he will probably never see such an event again in his lifetime. And today's celebration is very exciting, once again condensing the national pride of the British. ”
Even if you are not very interested in the royal family, it is difficult not to be infected by the atmosphere around you when you are in the celebration scene. On the first day of the celebration, British enthusiasm overflowed from the subway station, and the road from St. James's Park station to the parade was full of bustling crowds. People hold the British flag and the perimeter containing the image of the Queen, paint their faces with rice flags, or wear clothes and ornaments with national flag elements.
On the first day of the celebration, the audience waving a British flag on the side of the road waiting for the parade (Photo: Kiki)
After the RAF performance began, planes lined up low over the sky, leaving smoke in the color of the national flag, and people cheered in unison, almost overshadowing the roar of the aircraft.
Some people are fascinated and some people are cold-eyed
This national carnival is not exclusive to the British, and there are not a few foreigners who are swaying for the Jubilee celebrations.
Heatherwood, 53, flew across the Atlantic Ocean to Britain with her children. Heatherwood, who lives in Bay City, Michigan, has always had a strong affinity for the Queen of England. Although she was on crutches and had limited mobility, she still came for the Jubilee celebration and planned to stay until mid-June.
She told the "Global Newspaper Sister" that she had loved British history since she was a child, and she also liked the Queen of England, and she even felt that she had been born in the wrong country. "Although I love America, I always feel like I belong to the land of Britain."
This was Heatherwood's first time in England, and when she stepped out of the cabin, the whole person couldn't help but cry with excitement, "I feel very happy and happy."
Marissa, an Australian who has lived in London for almost 20 years, loves the Queen and the British royal family equally. Although born in Australia, Marissa's father and grandparents were English, which allowed her to "subtly" cultivate a passion for the royal family.
Elizabeth II was like a powerful glue to Britain, bringing the country together and working hard in her post to perpetuate the British tradition, "though she had no political influence, she had the soft power of her own."
Someone in the crowd holding a picture of the Queen (Photo: Kiki)
To this day, she vividly remembers the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Elizabeth II's 60th anniversary, when more than 1,000 ships from around the globe cruised along the London section of the River Thames. London in 2012 was a "double-happy day" – in addition to the Queen's enthronement anniversary celebrations, the Olympic Games will also be held. Marisa recalled to The Global Newspaper That the atmosphere in London was particularly good that year, and now that she thinks about it, she did not go to the scene, but watched the celebration on TV.
This year, in order to participate in the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, Marissa specially vacated the entire holiday, "after all, this is a historic moment, I am afraid I will never see such a grand ceremony in my life." Marissa was able to participate in the celebration on site, which made her family in Australia extremely envious. As a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, Marissa specifically emphasized that "the Queen of England is also our Queen of Australia".
On the evening of 2 June, all Commonwealth countries, whether it is neon lights, bonfires or lighthouses, lights up Elizabeth II. Along with other Commonwealth leaders, Australia's new Prime Minister, Albanes, lit a beacon of commemoration of the Platinum Jubilee in tribute to Elizabeth II.
The leader, who came from Labour, praised Elizabeth II as representing "enduring, inspiring calm and strength" in Australia. But at the same time, he also said pointedly, "The bond between our two countries is no longer as it was in the early days of her reign, we are equal, more importantly, we are friends." ”
Two days before the celebrations, the new prime minister had just appointed the country's first "assistant minister for the republic," and Albanes himself had been a believer in the republican system, reigniting discussions about a republic in Australia.
As for the Caribbean countries, the atmosphere of jubilee celebrations was even more frosty, the British royal family was no longer regarded as a god-like being, the demand for British reparations for slavery was growing, and more and more countries intended to follow the Caribbean island nation of Barbados towards a republic, no longer having the British monarch as its head of state.
As early as March, Prince William and his wife encountered protests when they visited Caribbean countries such as Jamaica, Belize and the Bahamas. Jamaicans demanded an apology from the British royal family for crimes committed in the slave trade years ago, denouncing that members of the royal family still lived "in a wealth of gold and jade derived from the proceeds of crime."
The Caribbean people have difficulty empathizing with the carnival atmosphere of the Jubilee celebrations, and the British newspaper Guardian quoted a Jamaican slave reparations campaign as saying, "The best gift the Queen can give to Jamaica is an apology... But the high level of publicity about the monarchy at this ceremony is a reminder not to apologize."
Will the celebration earn back £1.2 billion?
People who do not feel the charm of the royal family are more concerned about how much money these four days have cost taxpayers.
The British government promised early on that it would make the ceremony "once in a generation", "combining the best of British ceremonial splendor and cutting-edge art with technology". The only way to achieve this grand promise is to throw money at it.
According to the UK government's budget last March, Chancellor of the Exchequer Sunak allocated £28 million for the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Of these, the celebration cruise on 5 June cost £15 million. However, most of the costs are not paid by taxpayers, but are donated by enterprises and individuals. In addition, the Uk Ministry of Education has spent £12 million to give away a book to primary school students across the country about a girl listening to her great-grandmother tell the story of the Queen.
Compared to past royal events, government funding is not high – the 60th anniversary diamond jubilee celebration cost hundreds of millions of pounds (of which £1.57 million came from taxpayers), William and Kate spent about £30 million on their wedding, and Harry and Meghan spent £32 million on their wedding.
Panoramic view of the celebration on June 5th
But the £28m payment is still criticized, given that the UK economy is now devastated by the pandemic, the russo-Ukrainian war is spilling over, and inflation is driving up the cost of living – is it necessary to spend this huge amount of money on a celebration?
In the eyes of royal supporters, although the money paid by the government comes from the pockets of the people, it is not spent in vain, and the Jubilee celebration is also a good time to enter the account. Royal supporters have long used the Windsor family's contribution to the economy as an important argument in favor of a constitutional monarchy.
According to Forbes magazine, before the outbreak, the royal family contributed nearly 1.8 billion pounds to the British economy every year, including 550 million pounds to tourism; at the same time, British taxpayers paid 82.2 million pounds for the royal family in 2019.
The UK government apparently thinks the same way – last March's budget included the Queen's Spending on Platinum Jubilee Celebrations classified as "investment-led recovery".
Tourism England expects the Jubilee weekend to bring in up to £1.2 billion in revenue, which is largely offset by the amount spent. According to the Retail Research Centre, consumers are expected to spend £408 million on the four-day holiday, of which £281.5 million will be spent on souvenirs and gifts, among other things.
The attraction of the festival is also considerable for tourists, like the Mother and Daughter of Heatherwood from the United States, the three Sisters Shirley from Wales, and the Jubilee Celebration can attract about 2.6 million domestic and foreign tourists to London. Their consumption has had a positive effect on the local retail, catering, hospitality and tourism industries.
The economic rewards are promising, but in Britain, where constitutional monarchy is championed, the Queen's Jubilee celebrations are far more significant than that. This is not only a history that will never be seen again in their lifetime, but also, as the three Sisters Shirley firmly believe, this event is for all, and the Queen means everything to them, "a solid pillar that allows the whole country to be united".
(Thanks to Kiki for your help with this article)